Christopher Patrick Coleman (born 10 June 1970) is a Welsh professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player, who is the current manager of

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

. As a player, Coleman usually played in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

, while also occasionally appearing as a forward. He began his career at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, leaving as a teenager to make his debut for hometown team Swansea City in 1987. In 1991, he joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, whom he represented in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He spent a year-and-a-half at league champions

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

before signing for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 1997, helping the team to two promotions from the third tier to the top flight. He won 32

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

playing for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Coleman's playing career ended at the age of 32, when his leg was broken in a car crash. Following this, he started his coaching career at Fulham. In his first full season as manager, he guided the club to ninth place in the 2003–04 Premier League. After leaving Fulham, Coleman was appointed manager of

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

, where he resigned in January 2008 due to differences with the incoming president. He returned to England to manage

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, but was dismissed in May 2010 following a poor run of results. Coleman then managed Greek side AEL for the first half of the 2011–12 season before resigning due to financial troubles at the club. In 2012, he took over as Wales national team manager after the death of

Gary Speed Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...

, and led Wales to

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, their first major tournament since the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

, where they made the semi-finals.

Early life

Coleman was born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

to an Irish father and has two sisters. He was educated at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School and

Bishop Vaughan Catholic School Bishop Vaughan Catholic School is a coeducational Catholic secondary school in the Morriston area of Swansea. It is under the remit of the Diocese of Menevia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Wales ...

. Coleman has been nicknamed "Cookie" since childhood, as friends likened his eating habits to the

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue Muppet character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' In a song in 2004, and later in an interview in 2017, Cookie Monster revealed his real name as "Sid". He is best known for hi ...

from ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''.

Playing career

Club

Swansea City

The first professional team Coleman was contracted to was

, aged 16, although he later left them, citing homesickness as the major reason. He then joined his hometown club Swansea City. He made his first professional appearance for them aged 17, in the autumn of 1987. He made nearly 200 appearances for the south Wales club and helped win the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

in 1989 and 1991.

Crystal Palace

After spending four years with Swansea, Coleman was signed by

in 1991 for a transfer fee set by a Football League tribunal at around £270,000, plus a percentage of any future sale. After making 143 appearances, scoring 16 goals in that period – a 1 in 9 record explained by the fact that manager Steve Coppell often used Coleman as a makeshift centre forward. Palace finished 10th in Coleman's first season at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

, but they were relegated from the new

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in his second season (although they did reach the semi-finals of the League Cup). They won promotion as Division One champions at the first attempt, but went straight back down again despite reaching the semi-finals of both cups that season. Coleman was sold to

, the defending league champions, for £2.8 million in December 1995. While at Palace, he was capped for Wales at senior level for the first time. In 2005, Palace supporters voted Coleman into their Centenary XI.

Blackburn Rovers

Coleman joined

champions

for a fee of £2.8 million. Blackburn did not retain the Premier League title they had won in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, and finished seventh, just missing out on a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

place. Coleman made 28 league appearances over his season-and-a-half at the club, and when he found himself out of the starting line-up too often (not helped by a persistent

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

injury), he took the gamble to further his career by dropping two divisions to join

Fulham

Fulham, at the time in the third tier, were financed by wealthy businessman

Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...

, and were able to spend a record transfer fee for the division and club, of £2.1 million for Coleman in late 1997. He quickly became club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and led Fulham to promotion under manager

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

in 1998–99 to the First Division. He remained captain and a regular in the team under new manager

Jean Tigana Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team ...

in the 2000–01 season as Fulham made a successful start to the campaign. However, Coleman's career was effectively ended midway through the season, after he broke his leg in a car crash, near

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gr ...

in Surrey on 2 January 2001, just days before an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He never recovered from this injury despite playing a reserve fixture in March 2002, a game that only served as an indication that he would never again play at the highest level of English football. He announced his retirement as a player in October 2002, but stayed at the

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

club as a member of the coaching staff.

International

Coleman was eligible to play for his birth country of Wales, for the Republic of Ireland through his

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

-born father, and also for the United States via his maternal grandfather. Coleman was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by Wales at school, youth, under-21 and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

levels. His only competitive football appearance after his leg injuries came for Wales on 14 May 2002, when he was called up to the squad as a replacement for

Danny Gabbidon Daniel Leon Gabbidon (born 8 August 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City (two spells), West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, and Panteg. He a ...

, and then came on as a late substitute for goalscorer

Robert Earnshaw Robert Earnshaw (born 6 April 1981) is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a forward. He is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, all three divisions of the English Football League, the League Cup, ...

in the 1–0 win over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

Managerial career

Fulham

Coleman joined Fulham's coaching staff in October 2002 under Tigana. He later succeeded the Frenchman as caretaker manager in April 2003, and steered Fulham away from relegation danger. He was named as Fulham's permanent manager in May 2003, beating the more experienced

Klaus Toppmöller Klaus Toppmöller (born 12 August 1951) is a German football manager and former professional player. Playing career A forward, Toppmöller scored 108 Bundesliga goals for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 204 matches in the West German top flight. He e ...

and

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

to the post, and also became the youngest manager in the Premier League. His first full season in charge saw Fulham finish a surprise ninth place, as many pundits tipped them to struggle and for Coleman to be sacked. Many of Fulham's key players, such as

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

Louis Saha Louis Laurent Saha (born 8 August 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Saha was capped 20 times for the France national team and scored four goals. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, h ...

Steed Malbranque Steed Claude Malbranque (born 6 January 1980) is a French former professional footballer. Malbranque started his professional career with Olympique Lyonnais, before moving to England in 2001, where he had spells with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur an ...

and

Luís Boa Morte Luís Boa Morte Pereira (; born 4 August 1977) is a Portuguese football coach and a former professional football player who played as an attacking winger, forward and centre midfielder. Having come through the youth ranks with Sporting CP, ...

, were sold in the following years and Fulham did not repeat their earlier successes under Coleman though he kept them clear of relegation. He was sacked on 10 April 2007 in a move that caught some observers by surprise, after a seven-game winless run that left the club four points above the relegation zone.

Real Sociedad

Coleman moved abroad to manage recently relegated

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side

on 4 July 2007, after being recommended to the club by fellow Welshman and former Real Sociedad manager

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

. He was linked with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in October 2007 though nothing came of it. With the club in 5th place and having only lost once in its previous eleven games, Coleman resigned as manager on 16 January 2008, citing a divergence in vision for the club with newly elected President Iñaki Badiola.

Coventry City

Coleman was appointed manager of

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on 19 February 2008, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. He replaced

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

, who had been sacked by new owner

Ray Ranson Raymond "Ray" Ranson (born 12 June 1960) is an English sports financing and insurance entrepreneur and a former professional footballer. He is the founder and chairman of Global Risk Technologies Ltd, a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance pl ...

. On 26 August 2008, the BBC reported that Coleman was no longer interested in the Wales national team. He later said that his words had been misinterpreted; when answering a question on whether Coventry striker

Freddy Eastwood Freddy Eastwood (born 29 October 1983) is a former professional footballer. He started his career with West Ham United and also played for Southend United, Grays Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City. He played eleven times in his ...

was fit to play for Wales, he meant to say that he wanted Eastwood fit for club before returning to international duty. On 4 May 2010, Coleman was sacked following Coventry's 19th-place finish during the 2009–10 season, their lowest league finish in more than 45 years. They would be relegated two years later.

AEL

On 26 May 2011, Coleman was appointed as manager of Greek side AEL. In January 2012, Coleman announced that because of financial troubles at the club he would be quitting from his position as manager.

Wales

On 19 January 2012, Coleman was appointed team manager of the Wales national team, as successor to his friend

, who had died the previous November. After letting his assistant Osian Roberts take charge in Speed's memorial match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in February, his first game in charge was a 2–0 defeat against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

at the

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants an ...

in New Jersey on 27 May. Wales' first match in

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

was on 7 September at home to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, with centre back James Collins sent off for a late lunge on

Guillaume Gillet Guillaume Gillet (born 9 March 1984) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for Anderlecht. Club career Born in Liège, Gillet has played for RFC Liège, Visé, Eupen, Gent, Anderlecht and SC Bastia who G ...

in the 25th minute of an eventual 0–2 loss. Four days later in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, the team lost 6–1 to Serbia; Coleman said in October 2015 that he considered leaving his post after the defeat. After becoming the first Welsh manager to lose his first five games, Coleman got his first win on 12 October 2012, a 2–1 victory against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. On 26 March 2013, in a qualifier against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...

, Wales led 1–0 for the majority of the game through a

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

penalty, but two late goals from the opponents ended any hopes of qualification. In October 2015, Coleman led Wales to their best ever position on the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

, 8th. On 10 October, their qualification for the

tournament was confirmed, a first tournament qualification since 1958. The team came first in their group in France, and eliminated Northern Ireland and Belgium to reach the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions Portugal. Coleman received interest from other teams due to his management of the Welsh team at the tournament. On 23 May 2016, it was announced at a

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

press conference that Coleman had signed a two-year contract extension to take in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. Wales's 1–0 home loss to the Republic of Ireland on 9 October 2017 meant that they were eliminated from qualification. Coleman resigned as Wales manager on 17 November.

Sunderland

On 19 November 2017, Coleman was appointed as the new manager of under-performing

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He replaced a dismissed

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

, who had left the Black Cats third from bottom of the league table in twenty-second place and within the relegation drop zone. Coleman's first game in charge was a 2–1 defeat at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, two days after his appointment. By the conclusion of 2017, Sunderland had collected eleven points, out of a possible twenty-four, under Coleman's guidance, briefly lifting out of the relegation zone into twenty-first place, following a satisfactory run of form. During the winter transfer window, Coleman was informed that club chairman

Ellis Short Ellis Short (born October 6, 1960) American businessman and founder of Kildare Partners, a private equity fund investing in distressed European real estate assets. Short was also the owner and chairman of English football club Sunderland A.F.C. ...

had refused to invest any more money into player transfers, with the American businessman announcing his intentions to sell the club. Joining the club for free of charge included the loan signings of Jake Clarke-Salter from

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Ovie Ejaria Ovie Dominic Ejaria (born 18 November 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Reading in the EFL Championship. He is a former England under-21 international. Club career Ejaria was born in Southwark, Great ...

from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Lee Camp from Cardiff City and

Ashley Fletcher Ashley Michael Fletcher (born 2 October 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Wigan Athletic on loan from Watford. Fletcher began his professional career at Manchester United, having previo ...

from fierce rivals

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

;

Kazenga LuaLua Kazenga LuaLua (born 10 December 1990) is an English– Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club Levadiakos. Career Newcastle United and loan spells Born in Kinshasa, LuaLua moved to England shortly ...

was the only permanent transfer that window, joining from

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

on a free transfer. After their transfer window nightmare, Sunderland went on a nine-game winless run, ending when they defeated

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

4–1 at

Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are both ...

. This was Coleman's final victory in charge of Sunderland; his final six games saw the Black Cats record three draws and three defeats. Relegation to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

was confirmed following a 2–1 defeat against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

. His final game in charge was a 2–1 defeat to

. On 29 April 2018, Coleman was dismissed shortly following the club's sale.

Hebei China Fortune

On 10 June 2018, Coleman was appointed as the head coach of Chinese club Hebei China Fortune, as successor to

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...

, who left the side to return to the

with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. The club had become notable during the year for completing the high-profile signing of

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Argentina national under-20 team. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder, most not ...

from Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

giants

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. His side finished the 2018 Super League season in sixth position, two places and fourteen points adrift from qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League. Coleman's side struggled to adapt in the 2019 league campaign, with the club sat in fifteenth place, in the relegation zone, following nine games. Having only won one game that league season, a 2–1 victory over

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

, he was sacked on 15 May due to poor performance.

Personal life

He is married to TV presenter

Charlotte Jackson Charlotte Louise Jackson (born 29 June 1978)In the closet with Charlotte Jackson ''Sunday Express'' magazine supplement 23 October 2011, p.33 Accessed 9 January 2015 is an English journalist and television presenter, who was formerly a prese ...

. They had a son at the end of 2014. Coleman's godson is

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

international

Ronan Curtis Ronan Curtis (born 29 March 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a left-winger for the Republic of Ireland national team. Curtis started his career with Derry City in 2015, spending four seasons there and amassing 100 appear ...

, who plays as a forward for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. In June 2010, Coleman worked as a commentator for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa. He has also worked as a commentator and pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. For

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, he is working for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. On 20 October 2016 he was awarded the Freedom of the City of Swansea. Coleman was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to football. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary degree from his hometown's

University of Swansea Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

, and fellowships at both

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

and

University of Wales Trinity Saint David , image = Crest of TSD.png , image_size = 200px , caption = Coat of armsUniversity of Wales Trinity Saint David , established = 2010 (Saint David's College, Lampeter founded 1822 and opened 1827; royal charter 1828) , ...

. In July 2017, he endorsed the Welsh Government's project to double the number of speakers of Welsh by 2050.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Swansea City *

: 1988–89, 1990–91 Crystal Palace *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1993–94 Fulham *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1998–99 *Football League First Division: 2000–01 Individual *Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year: 1988–89, 1990–91 *Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year: 1997–98, 1998–99 *Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000, 2000–01 * Crystal Palace Player of the Year: 1994

Manager

Wales 3rd (Joint)

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Individual * Football League Championship Manager of the Month: February 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Chris 1970 births Living people Welsh people of Irish descent Welsh people of American descent Welsh Roman Catholics Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Wales schools international footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Wales international footballers Association football defenders Manchester City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Fulham F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Welsh football managers Fulham F.C. managers Real Sociedad managers Coventry City F.C. managers Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. managers Wales national football team managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers Hebei F.C. managers Premier League managers Segunda División managers English Football League managers UEFA Euro 2016 managers Welsh expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in China Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Spain Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Greece Welsh expatriate sportspeople in China British association football commentators Officers of the Order of the British Empire Chinese Super League managers People associated with Swansea University People associated with Bangor University People associated with University of Wales Trinity Saint David